Apparatus for abrading work



y 27, 1941- w. A. ROSENBERGER 2,243,394

APPARATUS FOR ABRADING WORK Filed Aug. s, 1935 Patented May 27, 1941 APPARATUS FOR ABRADING WORK 7 William A. Rosenberger, Hagerstown, McL, assignor to Pangborn Corporation, Hagerstown, Md, a corporation of Maryland Application August 6, 1935, Serial No. 34,990

10 Claims.

surfaces and yet eliminate hand labor.

A further object of my invention is to provide novel apparatus for abrading work which is automatic in operation, permits a minimum of abrasive to get into the atmosphere and which readily adapts itself to work of widely different character.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as the specification proceeds in connection with the annexed drawing and from the appended claims. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an apparatus embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of one preferred form of apparatus forming part of my invention. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View of the apparatus shown in Figure 2 and is taken approximately upon the line 3-3 of that figure, looking 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the driving chain of Figures 2 and 3.

With continued reference to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, I have in Figure l only diagrammatically indicated a preferred embodiment. The apparatus of Figure 1 comprises an endless conveyor C consisting of a pair of sprockets and an endless chain. Supported by pairs of arms upon the endless chain are any desired number of work supports or carriers B, in each of which is rotatably mounted a shaft S, having a pinion P (diagrammatically shown) at its upper end and work tongs T at its lower end which support the work W that is to be treated. The work may assume the form of a casting, forging or other metallic or nonmetal lic work which can be cleaned or treated by blasting. Only one work supporting assembly has been shown in orderto simplify the disclosure.

Pinion P is rigidly secured to shaft S and meshes with a stationarily supported rack R having a rounded leading edge. Although I have described a pinion P and rack R, it is to be understood that if desired pinion P may be replaced by a friction wheel andrack R likewise be replaced by a friction track without departing from the spirit of the invention. A housing or cabinet H, of any suitable form, is preferably provided below the conveyor and in the region of the longitudinal reach of conveyor C, adjacent rack R, to provide .a blasting zone in which preferably a plurality of abrading mechanisms are located. Housing H is provided with a door in each end and a slot in its top, to allow shaft S to project therethrough.

The abrading mechanisms may assume any desired character for projecting sand, metallic abrasive, etc., mixed with air, steam or Water, but in the present instance a pair of centrifugal abrasive throwing wheels I are illustrated for direct ing abrasive against the work. The term blast stream in the claims is intended to embrace the cleaning medium irrespective of its nature. The wheels are disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of the work, (indicated by broken lines) and one of them is disposed so as to discharge against the vertical or upright faces of the Work and the top of the work, while the other is disposed to discharge against the vertical sides of the work and the bottom of the work, with the result that when the work is moved through the path indicated by the broken lines, all six sides of the article are subjected to the action of the abrading mechanism. In other words, the lower wheel may be termed an undershot wheel and it rotates counterclockwise, whereas the upper wheel may be termed an overshot wheel and it also rotates counterclockwise.

Assuming that the blast wheels are operating and that conveyor C is driven at a predetermined speed in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, the articles of work W are placed on hooks or tongs T outside of the cabinet, and when they'have been advanced to the point where they enter cabinet I-I, pinion P engages rack R and the work is rotated about shaft S at a speed depending upon the speed of travel of conveyor C. This speed may of course be varied for different types of work. The work W is accordingly passed through the blasting zone and undergoes a combined translational and rotational movement when it is in the blasting zone, with the result that all of its surfaces are exposed to the blast from wheels I and all of its surfaces are uniformly.

abraded. 7

After each support B has reached a position so as to bring work W clear of housing I-I it may be removed from tongs T at any convenient place, or if an inspection of the article indicates that it is desirable, the work may be allowed to remain on the conveyor and be again passed through the blasting zone. If desired, rack R may terminate so as to cause the work to cease rotating before it passes out of the cabinet, but if. desired it may extend for a further distance and effect rotation of the work for some distance after it has left the housing, so as to facilitate inspection thereof.

In Figures 2 and 3 I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, and with continued reference to these figures, the conveyor is a mono-rail conveyor and comprises a plurality of supports I carrying a plurality of rollers I I which ride upon the flanges of a track which takes the form of an I-beam I2. The conveyor may, however, be of any other desired form. Each support is connected to its neighboring support by a chain, cable or the like (not shown) and the space between the supports may be varied as desired. Mounted for rotation in each support I0 is a shaft, spindle, or carrier I3 which is supported by a thrust bearing I4, and has a sprocket I5 fastened thereto. Shafts I3 extend through a slot I6 in housing H and have work supporting hooks IT at their lower ends. Because of its relatively narrow width, slot I6 will prevent transverse swinging or swaying of spindle or carrier I3 that may be developed by rotation of the spindle.

Sprockets I5 are adapted to mesh with the intermediate teeth of a triple width sprocket chain I 8, which is mounted to travel between two dual sprockets I9 and 2|, which are driven at variable or constant speeds in any suitable manner. Chain I8 comprises two longitudinal sections I8a engaging sprockets I9 and 2 I, and a third longitudinal section IBb engaging sprocketl5. Because of the support of chain I8 at points spaced transversely from the section of the chain which engages sprockets I5, the chain is properly supported without canting and without interference with the meshing of the chain and sprockets I5. Blasting wheels, as shown in Figure 1, are mounted in housing H, but they have been omitted in these figures in order to simplify the disclosure.

In order to insure contact of sprocket wheels I5 with sprocket chain I8 I preferably provide each support ID with sets of rollers 23 which cooperate with a stationary track 24 having a rounded leading edge 25.

As the conveyor travels in the direction indicated in Figure 2, and sprockets I5 are meshed with sprocket chain I8, shaft I3, and the work carried thereby is given a similar rotation and is treated in housing H in a manner similar to the first form of the invention. It is apparent that the speed of rotation of the work pieces will depend upon the speed of the conveyor and the speed .of sprocket chain I8. For instance, if

sprockets I 9 and 2| are maintained stationary,

sprocket chain I8 will function as a stationary rack to rotate the work pieces as in Figure l, whereasif they are rotated. in the same direction as the conveyor, but at a lower speed, the work pieces will be rotated at a speed lower than would be afforded by a stationary rack assembly. By giving sprockets an intermittent rotation, the work supports may be made to rock back and forth, or stop and start or undergo any other suitable form of motion. Conversely when sprocket I8 is given a direction of travel opposite to the conveyor travel, the work pieces will be rotated at a speed higher than would be afiorded by a stationary rack assembly. Accordingly various work rotating speeds may be attained with a fixed translational speed and vice versa, and if desired the work rotating speed and/or the translational speed may be varied during the cycle of presenting each article of work to the blasting zone.

The entrance and exit opening in the vertical walls of the housing may be provided with bafliing or any other kind of strips to minimize abrasive leakage into the atmosphere, and also I preferably provide each shaft I3 with a bafile member 22 which prevents any rebounding abrasive escaping through slot I6 from getting at the working parts of the mechanism.

By providing a mechanism for treating work wherein a large volume of work is successively passedinto and out of a blasting zone, the fioor space required for the apparatus is reduced to a minimum and also the dust removing problems are greatly simplified, as only one housing H is present and the collecting apparatus may be centralized. The present apparatus for abrading articles lends itself readily to high production methods because, as previously pointed out, the work may be continuously applied to the conveyor at one station prior to entering the cabinet, and be continuously removed therefrom at another station after the work has passed out of the cabinet. The present invention also makes it possible to efficiently clean work that is too hot to manually handle, such as castings or forgings.

The term translationa employed in the appended claims is intended to embrace bodily movement of the articles of work in curved paths, and is not to be limited to rectilinear translational movement.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. 1

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1, In an abrading apparatus, a plurality of work carriers mounted for movement in a horizontal path, each of said work carriers having a driven sprocket thereon, means for rotating said work carriers comprising a plurality of driving sprocket assemblies mounted for rotation adjacent the path of movement of said carriers, each driving sprocket assembly comprising at least two axially spaced sprockets, an endless driving chain passing around said sprocket assemblies, having sections meshing with both sprockets of each sprocket assembly, said driving chain having another section located intermediate said first mentioned sections to mesh with said driven sprockets of said work carriers.

2. In an abrading apparatus, a work support, means supporting said work support for translation through a predetermined path, a work carrying spindle mounted on said support for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, a sprocket mounted on said spindle to rotate therewith, a plurality of sprockets mounted for rotation at azaasea fixed points adjacent the path of-movement of said spindle, said sprockets lying in approximately the same horizontal plane and having an endless sprocket chain passing thereover, said chain engaging the sprocket of said spindle to rotate the latter, means for driving at least one of said fixed rotatable sprockets, and a cam member stationarily supported adjacent the path of movement of said work support on the side of said path opposite said driving sprockets for engaging said support and positively maintaining said driven sprocket in meshing engagement with said chain.

3. In an abrading apparatus, a work support, means supporting said work support for translation through a predetermined path, a work carrying spindle mounted on said support for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, a sprocket mounted on said spindle to rotate therewith, a plurality of sprockets mounted for rotation at fixed points adjacent the path of movement of said spindle, said sprockets lying in approximately the same horizontal plane and having an endless sprocket chain passing thereover, said chain engaging the sprocket of said spindle to rotate the latter, means for driving at least one of said fixed rotatable sprockets, a laterally extending roller assembly on said work support, and a track member stationarily supported adjacent the path of movement of said support to engage said roller assembly and positively force said spindle sprocket into meshing engagement with said chain.

4. In an abrading apparatus, a work support, means supporting said Work support for translation through a predetermined path, a work carrying spindle mounted on said support for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, a sprocket on said spindle to rotate therewith, a plurality of sprockets mounted for rotation at fixed points adjacent the path of movement of said spindle, said sprockets lying in approximately the same horizontal plane and having an endless sprocket chain passing thereover, said sprocket chain engaging the sprocket of said spindle to rotate the latter, means for driving at least one of said fixed rotatable sprocket-s, a laterally extending roller assembly on said work support, and a cam track adjacent the path of movement of said support to engage said roller assembly and maintain said spindle sprocket in meshing engagement with said chain, said track being spread outwardly away from said path adjacent the initial point of engagement of said spindle sprocket and chain.

5. In an abrading apparatus, a work support mounted for movement in a horizontal path, a driven sprocket thereon, means for rotating said sprocket to rotate the work supported thereby comprising a plurality of sprocket assemblies mounted for rotation adjacent the path of movement of said support, means to drive at least one of said sprocket assemblies, each sprocket assembly comprising at least two axially spaced sprockets, an endless driving chain passing around said sprocket assemblies, means on said chain to mesh with both sprockets of each of said sprocket assemblies, and means on said chain separate from and in addition to said las named means to mesh with said driven sprocket of said Work support and effect rotation thereof.

6. In an ahading apparatus, a work carrier, means to sup-port said work carrier for translation through a predetermined path and rotation about its axis, a sprocket on said work carrier, and means for rotating said sprocket comprising an endless driving chain having a run in a plane to engage said sprocket and another run spaced from said first named run, means engaging said chain to support it for engagement with said sprocket, said supporting means engaging said chain simultaneously with said sprocket at certain points where said sprocket is engaged, said points being spaced longitudinally of said first run, and means to drive said chain to effect rotation of said sprocket and work carrier.

'7. In an abrading apparatus, a Work carrier, means to support said work carrier for translation through a predetermined path and rotation about its axis, a sprocket on said work carrier, and means for rotating said sprocket comprising an endless driven chain having a longitudinal section of approximately the width of and arranged to engage said sprocket, and supporting means for said chain, said chain having longitudinal sections in addition to and spaced from said sprocket-engaging section to contact said supporting means, whereby there is no interierence with the engagement of said sprocket and the sprocket-engaging portion of said chain.

8. In an abrading apparatus, a work carrier, means to support said work carrier for translation through a predetermined path and rotation about its axis, a sprocket on said work carrier, and means for rotating said sprocket comprising a driven chain having a run adjacent the path of movement of said work carrier and arranged to engage and rotate said sprocket, and means to support said chain only at points thereon transversely spaced from the sprocket-engaging portion and on opposite sides thereof to prevent canting thereof with respect to said sprocket and interference with the engagement of said sprocket and chain.

9. In an apparatus for conveying a suspended workpiece in a rectilinear path through a blasting zone in which spaced apart blasting devices are located for directing abrasive streams on the workpiece, and in which means are provided for rotating the workpiece during its travel through the streams, in combination, a carrier, means for supporting the carrier for movement in a circuitous path, a substantial portion of which extends in a rectilinear direction, a spindle having means at its lower end for detachable engagement with the workpiece, a swivel connection between the upper end of the spindle and the carrier, a sprocket wheel rigidly mounted on the spindle intermediate its ends, an endless sprocket chain forming a substantially oblong loop with one of its longer sides extending in a rectilinear direction parallel with the aforesaid rectilinear direction of travel of the carrier, and in intermeshirn relation with said sprocket wheel, and means for driving said endless sprocket chain, including sprocket wheels engaging the same at the bights thereof, said sprocket wheels being located out of the path of travel of the first named sprocket wheel.

10. In an abrading apparatus, a work support, means supporting said work support for translation through a predetermined path, a work carrying spindle mounted on said support for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, a sprocket mounted on said spindle to rotate therewith, a plurality of sprockets mounted for rotation at fixed points adjacent the path of movement of said spindle, said sprockets lying in approximately the same horizontal plane and having an endless sprocket chain passing thereover, fortengaging said support and positively mainsaid chain engaging the sprocket of said spindle taining said driven sprocket in meshing ento rotate the latter, means for driving at least gagement with said chain, said cam member beone of said fixed rotatable sprockets, and a cam ing spread outwardly away from said path admember stationarily supported adjacent the 5 jacent the initial point of engagement of said path of movement of said work support on the spindle sprocket and chain.

side of said path opposite said driving sprockets WM. A. ROSENBERGER. 

